Submit data on loan defaulters to credit information firms, RBI tells banks

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The Reserve Bank of India has advised banks and financial institutions to submit data on defaulting borrowers from December 2014 onwards to Credit Information Companies (CICs) and not to the RBI.

Releasing this information, obtained through a portal complaint, Delhi-based Right to Information activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal said on Friday that it is significant to note that the RBI has not so far complied with the Supreme Court order of December 12, 2015, in the RBI vs PP Kapoor (Civil 94 of 2015) case, where it wanted the RBI to make public details of the top 100 loan defaulters among industrialists.

The details required including the names of the businessmen, firm name, principal amount, interest amount, date of default, and date of availing the loan.

In a June 24 letter addressed to Agrawal in response to his PG Portal complaint dated April 24, the RBI said it has submitted to the Supreme Court a list of defaulters above Rs. 500 crore in a sealed cover and claimed that the said information is confidential and requested that it may not be revealed to the public.

The matter is still under consideration of the Supreme Court.

Source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/money-and-banking/submit-data-on-loan-defaulters-to-credit-information-firms-rbi-tells-banks/article8797928.ece

CBDT notifies foreign tax credit rules, corporates to gain

by | posted in: Corporate Updates, Income Tax,e-Filing- Individuals, Firms, Companies, India & International - Corporate updates | 0

To provide relief to corporates with income abroad, the tax department has notified ‘Foreign Tax Credit’ rules allowing companies to claim credit for taxes, surcharge and cess paid overseas. The rules, which come into effect from April 1, 2017, allow taxpayers to claim credit of foreign tax under dispute once it is finally settled.

Foreign tax credit (FTC) will be available against tax, surcharge and cess payable under the Act, including minimum alternate tax (MAT) but not in respect of interest, fee or penalty.

The rules also provide that disputed foreign tax will be allowed as credit for the year in which the income is taxed in India, subject to certain conditions.To avail of the credit, the taxpayer will have to furnish evidence of settlement of the dispute and evidence of payment of the foreign tax. The taxpayer is also required to provide an undertaking that no refund, directly or indirectly, will be claimed for this foreign tax.

“The rules are progressive and provide much-needed clarity as well as certainty in claiming FTC,” said Rakesh Nangia, Managing Partner, Nangia & Co.

Taxpayers claiming FTC shall now be required to file a Statement of Income from a foreign country with details of tax paid in the prescribed Form 67.

“Rules also provide for situations of carry backward of loss of the current year resulting in refund of foreign tax,” said Amit Maheshwari, partner, Ashok Maheshwary & Associates LLP.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has also allowed tax payers to give self-certified statement, giving the nature of income and the amount of foreign tax deducted or paid accompanied with the counterfoil or acknowledgment of taxes paid and/or proof of taxes having been deducted at source, for claiming FTC.

“This process is much simpler than the complex and difficult procedure involving obtaining a certificate from a foreign tax authority,” Nangia said.

The tax credit, the rule said, “shall be the aggregate of the amounts of credit computed separately for each source of income arising from a particular country or specified territory outside India”.

Source:  http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/52986969.cms

Indian solar energy to get $1 bn from World Bank

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The World Bank Group signed an agreement with the International Solar Alliance (ISA), consisting of 121 countries, led by India. It has committed to provide $1 billion support to Indian solar energy projects.

The World Bank-supported projects include solar rooftop technology, infrastructure for solar parks, bringing innovative solar and hybrid technologies to market and transmission lines for solar-rich states. The cumulative investment in solar would be the World Bank’s largest financing in this sector for any country.

ISA was launched at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris at end-November last year, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President François Hollande. Through ISA, India aims to collaborate with global agencies and mobilise around $1 trillion of investment in solar energy by 2030.

The agreement was signed for India by Arun Jaitley and Piyush Goyal, the minister of finance and coal, power & renewable energy, respectively, and World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim.

“India’s plans to virtually triple the share of renewable energy by 2030 will both transform the country’s energy supply and have far-reaching global implications in the fight against climate change,” said Jim Yong Kim. He hopes this agreement would spur a global movement.

The World Bank Group will develop a road map to mobilise financing for development and deployment of affordable solar energy, and work with other multilateral development banks and financial institutions to develop financing instruments in this regard.

The World Bank also signed an agreement to give close to $625 million for the Grid Connected Rooftop Solar Programme under the National Solar Mission. The project will finance the installation of around 400 megawatt of solar photovoltaic power projects. The development of a $200-million shared infrastructure for the Solar Parks Project under a public-private partnership model, is also under preparation, said the Bank.

Source:   hhttp://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/indian-solar-energy-to-get-1-bn-from-world-bank-116063000413_1.html

India jumps 19 places in World Bank’s logistics performance index

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India’s logistics performance at its key international gateways has improved in the last two years, according to a World Bank report released on Tuesday.

In the World Bank’s biennial measure of international supply chain efficiency, called Logistics Performance Index, India’s ranking has jumped from 54 in 2014 to 35 in 2016.

While Germany tops the 2016 rankings, India is ahead of comparatively advanced economies like Portugal and New Zealand. In 2016, India’s international supply chain efficiency was at 75% of top-ranked Germany, said the report titled Connecting to Compete: 2016 Trade Logistics in the Global Economy. This is an improvement over the 66% efficiency when compared to the leader (again Germany) in 2014.

Better performance in logistics will not only boost programmes, such as Make in India, by enabling India to become part of the global supply chain, it can also help increase trade. In 2015-16, India’s foreign trade shrank by around 15%.

The Logistics Performance Index analyses countries across six components: efficiency of customs and border management clearance, quality of trade and transport infrastructure, ease of arranging competitively priced shipments, competence and quality of logistics services, ability to track and trace consignments, and the frequency with which shipments reach consignees within scheduled or expected delivery times.

It is computed from the survey responses of about 1,051 logistics industry professionals.

Programmes, such as Make in India, and improvements in infrastructure have helped India improve its logistical performance, said Arvind Mahajan, partner and national head (energy, infrastructure and government) at KPMG India, a consultancy. He also said that the emergence of skilled professionals and technological improvements that have enabled services such as track-and-tracing have helped India close the gap with leaders.

That said, Logistics Performance Index does not address how easy or difficult it is to move goods to the hinterland. For that, World Bank has another measure—a domestic LPI which analyzes a country’s performance over four factors: infrastructure, services, border procedures and supply chain reliability.

While not all yardsticks are comparable across countries, there are some which show that India still has some way to go.

For instance, only 69% of shipments from India meet the quality criteria, compared to 72% for China and 77% for Kenya. On the other hand, it takes two and three days to clear shipments, without and with inspection, respectively—numbers comparable to China but longer than what it takes in top-ranked Germany.

Similarly, India has an average of 5 forms required for import or export, compared to 4.5 for China and 2 for Germany.

In this regard, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) has the potential to revolutionize the transport industry in India, said Capt. Uday Palsule, former managing director of Spear Logistics Pvt. Ltd. “Inter-state travel time will be drastically reduced if the hurdle of checking documents at every state border is done away with,” he said. It will also help boost the returns of the trucking industry and feed into better performance of the logistics sector, added Palsule.

Source: http://www.livemint.com/Politics/aqBXOSWqMObUMUAffuGH6I/India-jumps-19-places-in-World-Banks-logistics-performance.html

IPOs: here’s how much money India Inc raised in May

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Money raised through public issues in 2016 so far is three fold higher compared to the same period in 2015.

Indian companies raised Rs 6,744 crore through initial public offerings (IPOs) during the first five-and-a-half months of 2016, according to Prime Database.

The year so far witnessed 11 companies making their debut on the exchanges, with healthcare, finance and investments firms dominating  issuances.

Although all the IPOs were oversubscribed, only five of the 11 companies reported listing gains. Firms such as Ujjivan Financial Services, Thyrocare Technologies and Team Lease Services saw an overwhelming response, with their issues being oversubscribed between 38% and 41%.

The public issue of Mahanagar Gas, which closed last week, was oversubscribed 65 times. The IPO, which aimed to raise R1,040 crore, was fully subscribed on the first day. The public issue of Bangalore-based staffing firm Quess Corp, which aims to raise R400 crore, will open on Wednesday.

Source: http://www.financialexpress.com/article/markets/indian-markets/firms-raise-rs-6744-crore-via-ipos-till-mid-may/300205/